Candle / Bath & Body vs Subscription Box, startup cost comparison, StartupLenz

Candle / Bath & Body

Cosmetic and home fragrance products with raw materials, compliance, and DTC costs

Gross$2,244

Net profit$-1,503

Margin-67.0%

Orders/mo60

Materials$630 28%

Packaging$144 6%

Labor$1,540 69%

Etsy fees$103 5%

Shipping$230 10%

Fixed costs$1,100 49%

launch · 1–3$-1,362

traction · 4–8$-1,503

scale · 9–12$-1,645

Losing money. Likely fixes: cut wholesale share, raise price, or reduce material cost per unit.

Higher net

Monthly product boxes with sourcing, packaging, fulfillment, and churn modeling

Gross$8,294

Net profit$1,246

Margin15.0%

Orders/mo217

Box contents$2,604 31%

Packaging$543 7%

Shipping$1,302 16%

Payment fees$249 3%

Acquisition$1,250 15%

Fixed costs$1,100 13%

launch · 1–3$1,773

traction · 4–8$2,865

scale · 9–12$3,554

Healthy for an indie box. Squeeze the COGS-per-box line and you'll free up real cash.